The Popular Vote and the Electoral College

President Obama greets New Hampshire voters at a rally in Portsmouth in September 2012.
(AFP/Getty)

With just four days to go until the 2012 presidential election, we're all watching the polls. At the heart of the polling system is the daily tracking poll, designed to gauge the mood of the populace. The problem? The populace doesn’t decide who gets to be president. As we all remember from grade school, that job is left to the Electoral College.